Fabrication and co-sintering of thin tubular IT-SOFC with Cu2O–GDC cermet supporting anode and Li2O-doped GDC electrolyte

The present work describes the fabrication of thin tubular Cu2O-based anode supported solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with dense and crack free 10 mol% gadolinia-doped ceria (GDC10) electrolyte by single step co-sintering. Dilatometric analysis was performed to analyze the effects of the Cu2O:GDC10 ratio and of different Li2O doping amounts on sintering behavior. The densification of the electrolyte, deposited on the green anodes by dip coating, was also analyzed. Issues related to insufficient densification and cracking of the electrolyte upon sintering and cooling were discussed with respect to anode sintering behavior and thermal expansion coefficient (TEC) mismatch. Good quality thin tubular cells composed of 35 vol% Cu2O–(1 mol% Li2O-doped GDC10) anode, 1 mol% Li2O-doped GDC10 electrolyte and lanthanum strontium cobaltite ferrite (LSCF)–GDC10 cathode were fabricated by single-step co-sintering at 1020 °C. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.